Most children coming down with chicken pox show symptoms of fever, headache, sore throat, general weakness or decreased appetite before the rash appears. These initial symptoms occur about 10 to 21 days after coming into contact with the disease. The chicken pox rash develops about 1-2 days after the initial symptoms.The average child develops 250 to 500 small, itchy, fluid-filled blisters or red spots on the skin, but children with skin problems, such as eczema, may get thousands of blisters.
The blisters are usually first seen on the face, middle of the body, or scalp. After a day or two, the fluid in the blisters become cloudy and they scab or crust over.
Some children who have had the vaccine will still develop a mild case of chickenpox. They usually recover much more quickly and have only a few pox. These cases are often harder to diagnose. However, these children can still spread chickenpox to others.